


A Different Bargain

by the_many_splendored



Category: The Stand (TV 2020)
Genre: Canon - TV, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-typical language, Episode 9 Rewrite, F/M, Flagg Is Not As Cool As He Thinks He Is, Fran Knows Bullshit When She Hears It, Unholy Bargains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29791602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_many_splendored/pseuds/the_many_splendored
Summary: After falling down the well at the Nebraska house, Fran encounters Randall Flagg, and he makes her a new bargain - not to be his spy, but for something much more precious.
Relationships: Fran Goldsmith/Stu Redman, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 3





	A Different Bargain

**Author's Note:**

> I thoroughly enjoyed the series finale of "The Stand", but before watching the episode, I had imagined Flagg making an entirely different request of Fran. This is basically a re-write of that sequence with the new idea in mind. As such, this is canon to the show, not necessarily the book.

Even knowing that this was likely a hallucination due to her injuries, Fran couldn’t restrain the irritated sigh that she let out when she saw the blonde man sitting against a tree in this steaming jungle. “Mr. Flagg, I presume? To what do I owe the displeasure?”

Flagg shrugged casually, but Fran could tell it was an affectation. There was no way he was _accidentally_ showing off a bit of his chest where his shirt was unbuttoned. “We’re on a similar plane for now, I suppose, Fran. Figured we could have a chat.”

A chill went down Fran’s spine, but her voice remained steady. “Then I guess I _am_ dead. Someone I trust very much said you were gone.”

Flagg stood up, and Fran took a step backwards. He was taller than Stu, and though he wasn’t bulky, she got the impression he could snap her like a twig. His smile was entirely too wide as he said, “Gone and dead are different things, kiddo. I could theoretically come back – and so can you if you’re willing to make a trade with me.”

“Trade?” Fran asked incredulously. “You must really be as twisted as Mother A said if you think I’d trade you anything.”

Flagg pointed to a nearby pool of water, and signaling for Fran to join him, he waved his hand over the surface. An image formed, and Fran saw herself at the bottom of the well where she had fallen. “I may not be a doctor,” Flagg said, “but even I can tell you’ve got breaks in your ribs, skull and pelvis – and your Mr. Redman is still ten miles away.” The image shifted, this time showing Stu out on the road, the family RV tipping perilously as he tried to fix the busted tire. “Who knows if he’ll make it on time?” Flagg’s voice was perfectly pitched to sound like he was concerned about these events, but as with the shrugging business a minute ago, Fran didn’t believe it for a second.

“We’re not wealthy people,” she said. “We don’t have anything worth that kind of trade.”

“Well, that’s the beautiful thing,” Flagg said. “I’m not asking for any _thing_ , I’m asking for a someone. I want little Abby.”

Fran had been watching the pool carefully, but at those words, her eyes went wide and she scrambled back to her feet. “You’re out of your goddamn mind!” she hissed. “What makes you think I would ever give up my little girl?”

“Because it’s what’s fair,” Flagg countered. “You’re young and healthy. Once I heal you up, you and your cowboy can have a whole brood of kids if that’s what you want. However, I don’t necessarily have that option. Nadine and I were expecting a son, but your Mr. Underwood got inside her head and influenced her to do something very foolish.” He pointed to the pool again, and Fran watched in sadness as Nadine jumped to her death, crushing herself and the child she was carrying.

She shuddered at the sight, and Flagg was suddenly behind her, whispering in her ear. “Point is, I don’t think I should marry again – too many factors that can go wrong. Abby is mine by rights. I’ll make her a princess in the new world – Abagail Frain, first of her name. Like I said, it’s a fair trade.”

“And if I don’t hand her over?” Fran asked.

Flagg was close enough behind her that she felt him shrug. “You succumb to your injuries and Abby starves. You saw for yourself how far away Stu is, and with an unsteady vehicle to boot. Do you really want to take that chance?”

At the mention of Abby starving, Fran hesitated, and Flagg took the opportunity to turn her to face him. “Do this for her if for no one else, kid. You’ve got to admit it makes the most sense.”

His last sentence struck her as she was reminded of something a different man in her life had said – though that seemed like a century ago now. The coincidence was too much, and she burst into shrieking laughter. “You _are_ entirely full of shit!”

Flagg looked genuinely startled at her outburst. “Excuse me?”

“If you really had the power to take Abby from me, you would have done so already. You need my actual permission, and I will never give it!” She pushed his hands off her shoulders and sneered at him in utter contempt. “You can fuck off forever, you coward.”

“Fine,” Flagg snarled, his earlier easy smile now looking more like the grimace of an attack dog. “Enjoy a painful death, bitch. Don’t say I didn’t give you an out.” He stormed off into the underbrush, and she closed her eyes, fully expecting never to open them again.

* * *

Fran’s eyes blinked open, and she was surprised to find that she wasn’t back in the well, but in a cornfield similar to the one she’d dreamed about so many times before. Getting up, she followed a slight break in the row, she saw a comfortable cabin with a familiar figure sitting on the porch. Breaking into a run, she made it to the clearing, and nearly knocked Mother Abagail over as she gave her a hug.

The old woman chuckled at Fran’s enthusiasm and rubbed her back soothingly. “Hi, Fran – not having a good day, I take it?”

Fran would have laughed in return, but she found she was starting to tear up. “I’d say you have no idea, Mother A, but I’m sure you do – God, I’m just so glad to see you.” Her voice caught in her throat, and she said in a more strangled tone than usual, “I…he…he almost convinced me to give him Abby…”

“And you were able to withstand his lies, honey – that’s what matters.” Mother Abagail tipped Fran’s chin so she could look the young woman in the face. “You stood against him – not everyone can say that.”

The tears were slightly spilling, but Fran wiped them away. “Was there anything he said that _was_ true? I know Abby needs me – or at least, she needs Stu to get back as fast as possible.”

“His were lies of omission,” Mother A said. She’d been smiling, but now her expression was somber. “That’s how he gets people – he makes them think they have no other options besides accepting his help.”

“So what wasn’t he telling me?” Fran asked.

“It’s true that the Redman family is fixing to grow exponentially – if I see it correctly, Abby will be your oldest of five, to say nothing of how many descendants you’ll have. But if you’d given Abby away…” The old prophetess shook her head, the cross around her neck shaking slightly. “Stuart and your other children would never have trusted you. Even if the little ones never found out about their oldest sister, that seed of doubt would have always been there, keeping them from your heart. Stuart would understand why you’d done it, but the love you two share would have become strained.”

Fran shuddered at the thought. “And I’m guessing Abby wouldn’t have benefited as Flagg’s child, not really. What’s the point of being a princess if your father’s a monster?”

“Exactly. She would have been a princess of an empire of dirt and dust.” Mother Abagail stood, and helped Fran do the same. “You’re right that you need to get home to your baby. Let Stuart and me handle that.” She kissed Fran’s forehead, and the young woman suddenly saw a flash of light, and Stu coming down on a wire to get her out of the well.

* * *

On the last leg of the trip to Ogunquit, Fran told Stu all about what Flagg had attempted, as well as about Mother Abagail’s promise about the future of their family. He was generally quiet, just allowing her to talk, but on the second afternoon after their return, the three of them were sitting on the beach, and Stu asked, “How _were_ ya able to do it, honey?”

“Hmm?” Fran had been so entranced by the waves breaking over the rocks that she didn’t catch the intent of his question.

“How did you manage to stand up to him?” Stu asked again. “Even when you were describing it second-hand, I realized that if we were reversed – if I’d fallen down the well and you were out on the road – I just might have been desperate enough to accept his offer.”

Fran took his free hand that he wasn’t using to hold Abby and squeezed it tight. “I _was_ desperate, that’s true – but apparently, Randall Flagg, wizard extraordinaire, the Hard Case, et cetera, is an unoriginal hack when he’s making speeches.”

Stu shook his head in confusion. “Can’t say I follow your meaning.”

“It wasn’t relevant to tell you when we first met, but for context now - when Jess and I first realized Abby was on the way, he asked me to marry him. I do think he cared about me, but in his case, it wasn’t motivated by love. He said, “Fran, it makes the most sense” – and by God if Flagg didn’t repeat that nearly word for word when he tried to convince me to give up Abby.”

Stu’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “No shit?”

“No shit! I’m not saying Jess was some dark agent before the plague started,” Fran clarified, “but the comparison in my head was so utterly ridiculous that I couldn’t help but laugh in Flagg’s face. Jess wouldn’t have been a good father, and I would have been raising Abby alone even if you and I never met. Giving her over to a Lovecraftian creep with delusions of godhood? No way.”

Abby cooed as if agreeing with her mom, and Stu kissed the infant on top of her head. “See, kiddo?” he said. “That’s why your mama is the smart one in the family – she recognizes patterns.”

Fran put her arm around her husband’s shoulders. “Let’s just hope that the darkness in the world continues to make a fool of itself.”


End file.
